The Second Chance
by Hexed Hobo
Summary: They thought it was all over. But Supreme Beings have other ideas. Rated for Safety. My first fic so plz be gentle! Plz Read and Review RESTARTED! IT'S BACK! hehe, please R R!
1. Prologue: The Deal

**Hi! This is my First Fic so plz dont hate me just yet! Oh yeah and I dont own Animorphs or anything to do with it. This Fic was inspired by The New Dawn by Shane C. This is very similar to his story but as I said this is my first fic and I wanted to see what it was like. Sorry its so short, but other chapters will be longer. Plz R+R. Ok I'll shut up now :)  
**

Prologue

The Ellimist surveyed the scene unfolding in front of him. His Animorphs were about to destroy themselves to finish off the last of the Yeerks, it would be a honorable and good way to end their lives that had been made miserable by the Yeerk war, even after their victory. The Ellimist sat back to watch the last moments of his living Animorphs lives, when suddenly, the two ships froze. He smiled expectantly; he had thought that Crayak might want to save his last remaining Yeerks especially "The One". "So Crayak, you have come to me again in defeat." The Ellimist mocked. "Yes' Crayak reluctantly replied "But I have no wish to see the last of my Yeerks perish at your Animorphs hands. So I propose a new game." The Ellimist was intrigued "I am listening" was all he said. "We each choose 7 champions. But we must both agree on the others choices, and they must also consent to go. They will have to travel in a group ship that we will create for our teams together, you, and me and go to a new planet we will create for them, and once there they will have to establish their own camp, complete with roles and leadership hierarchy. When both camps are considered satisfactory then the two camps will be given an object that the other camp must steal from them. The rules of stealing the artifact will be: They can use any method: Direct attack, thieving, even convincing a member of the camp to betray their own. But until the objects are in play then the two camps may not interact with each other." Said Crayak.

The Ellimist thought, and thought. It would be an interesting game to say the least and he had the perfect champions, but Crayak knew this and must have a plan. "Very well. But we cannot intervene at all, we watch. And also how do we decide if a camp is satisfactory? And what will happen to the loser? As in me and you" The Ellimist enquired.

"We decide a camp is satisfactory by it following certain guidelines such as it has to have certain things. And the loser of the game will be cast out of this timeline. So if you lose it will be mine to do with what I will and likewise if I lose then it will be yours." The Ellimist thought again. "OK Crayak we will play your game. I will name my champions." Said The Ellimist, "I want the humans Jake, Cassie, Marco, and Tobias. And the Andalite known as Ax."

"All fine continue." Boomed Crayak.

"And I want Rachel, Crayak." Said The Ellimist

"She is dead Ellimist, but if you can find her then so long as I get a special request too then deal, she died in too good way for me anyway." Said Crayak

"Good, and I want Elfangor." Asked The Ellimist uncertainty

"He would strengthen all your fighters resolve ten fold, no never with him in your team you would have over ninety percent chance of victory, so no never" Crayak said.

The Ellimist sighed but he had not expected Crayak to let him have the War Prince "Then I will take Toby Hemee"

"Very well." Commented Crayak

"Done. Now for my Champions. I will have Visser One, Drode, Four Howlers, and The One" Said Crayak.

"All fine except for the Howlers. They are different Crayak." Replied The Ellimist

"I granted you a dead champion, with ties to the Animorphs that will strengthen their resolve, not to mention the fact that she has the most powerful morphs in terms of strength, are you saying that I cannot have four creatures that your Animorphs defeated before?" Said Crayak angrily.

"And for Rachel I granted you Drode. The Howlers will only be acceptable if I get tp make the area which my team sets their camp more hospitable, Crayak." The Ellimist said

"Deal" was all Crayak said

"Very Well the game is set, now all the champions must agree to come and we can create the ships and the Planet they are to fight and live on." Finished The Ellimist.


	2. Chapter 1: The Offer

**OK. This is the first official chapter. Hope you like it, sorry its so short but I cant seem to make them long enough. Oh well I'll try again on the next one and hope that its longer. Thanks to Vickie1, Desteny Wolf, and last, but not least, SouthrnBelle. Hope this chapter lives up to what you were expecting :-)  
**

Jake

I didn't get what was going on. I had just told Mendrash to ram the blade ship, and now I was…floating…if you can call it that, in a purple mist. Then it clicked, "Ellimist" I said, "Yes Jake it is me." Boomed the voice that came from everywhere at once. "What do you want? And where are the others?" The Ellimist turned his head spoke a few words and turned back to me, a Red Tailed Hawk fluttered up and landed on his shoulder, Tobias looked right at me and even now I could feel the slight hate he felt for me because of what I did to him when I sent Rachel to her death. Marco, Ax, Cassie, Toby walked round either side of him on ground that seemed to just appear out of the mist as they walked, like some bizarrely cool automated walk-way. "What's going on?" I said uneasily.

"I have one final task for you, all of you. Crayak has proposed a final game, we chose Champions and now if they accept will go to a new planet we will create and there they must create a working camp with roles and a leadership hierarchy. When both camps fulfill specific rules set out between me and Crayak then both camps will be given an object that the other camp must steal by any means necessary even inciting treachery with in your camp, and likewise for you." Boomed the Ellimist. "IF you do not go then you will be returned to where you were before." He concluded

"So if we choose not to go then we die." I said "Well I choose to go believe it or not"

"Very good" boomed the Ellimist "It will now take about 10 of Earths minutes to summon the last two members of your team. Until then simply wait here." He turned and closed his eyes and sat down looking strangely like a blue old Buddha. "Well, everyone" I said "Here we are again."

Try not to get any of us killed senselessly again Mighty Jake said Tobias

"I did what I had to Tobias. There was no other way." I said firmly

Yes there was He replied morphing to human.

"Then you tell me what you would have done if you where in my position." I said getting angry now

"I would have got everyone to where we were with Visser Three and the Blade Ship, but I would have told Erek to repower up the Dracons otherwise the Blade Ship would fire and kill everyone onboard the Pool Ship. I would have told him we would just take out his engines and his weapons. He would have had no choice but to power them up. Then I would have destroyed the Blade Ship, or just disabled it saving Tom anyway and also saving all the Animorphs." He stated.

I thought about it, and it could have worked, my anger levels soared, why hadn't I thought of that?! Right at that moment I hated Tobias, and he hated me. We stared each other down, daring the other to make the first move. Then Tobias simply turned his back on me, in a very insulting way, as if to say, 'your not worth my time and effort.' I snapped, I leapt at him, he spun round, too late, and my fist connected with his face, he was thrown off his feet and landed hard, but he jumped up and glared at me, "WHAT THE HELL?!" he roared then he leapt at me and rugby tackled me, we rolled around on the floor, the other let us do it, I still don't know why, maybe they just thought it would be better to let us get it out of our systems. We fought for 10 minutes when suddenly someone shouted:  
"TOBIAS WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

That one shout, from a voice so familiar to me yet so unfamiliar, brought Tobias scrambling off me and looking around in shock, we looked around wildly, and eventually spotted her, and his eyes grew wide with shock, Rachel was walking towards us looking very angry, Tobias stared in obvious shock. Rachel walked right up to us and glared at us, "What was all that about?" she demanded Tobias still just stared, then he did something I really didn't expect right then and neither did Rachel, He turned and ran, without a word, he ran. He ran until we could no longer see him, but at that moment I wasn't too worried about Tobias, my cousin that I had thought I had killed was standing in front of me, I tried to keep the tears away, I really tried, but I couldn't do it, I broke down and cried into her shoulder, and held onto her like I would never let go. After some time she pulled me away from her and smiled at me. "Hey Jake." She said, and a huge grin lit up her perfect features, then her face grew serious "What were you two fighting about? I've never seen two Animorphs at each others throats before."

"Well, I don't really know why we were fighting it just sort of happened." I told her

By this time all the others were talking to each other glancing at Rachel and then in the direction Tobias had fled.

"We cannot start this game without Tobias" The Ellimist said "AND I believe it is you, Rachel, that he needs right now."

Rachel looked at me and the other Animorphs smiled her smile that had haunted me for so long and took off after Tobias. I watched her till I couldn't see her anymore and turned round to face my, once again, team members in a fight that would be long and hard.

I couldn't have been happier.


	3. Chapter 2: Reunited

**OK this is Chapter 2. I had alot of trouble writing this one and it STILL ISNT LONG ENOUGH :-(. Oh well, Thanks to all who reviewed especially SouthrnBelle YOU ROCK!!! anyway back to the chapter, its not my best but I'll do better next time.**  


Tobias

I ran, I ran away from the one person that I had been so lost without. I couldn't face her. For some reason I just couldn't, I wanted to, oh god I wanted to, but I was afraid. To tell the truth I was afraid to bring her back into my life again. I couldn't face losing her again.

'You are so pathetic' I heard a voice in my head growl 'When you lost her you were so depressed and lost you couldn't face humans or anything but Toby, and now that she's here and you have the chance to be happy, what do you do? You run away. Am I the only one seeing the idiocy here?! Go back you idiot! GO BACK!' I ignored my own instincts and my head, and kept going.

I morphed as soon as I could no longer see the others beyond the mist, I heard the Ellimist say that the Ship to take us to this planet we were meant to camp on would take two hours to bring in, so I had time to think. I flew through the mist. I didn't know which direction I was going, but I didn't care I wasn't going anywhere, and I had nowhere to go. I flew aimlessly for about 20 minutes (how do you tell when there's not even a sun to watch cross the sky?) before I saw a shadow moving nervously through the mist, I sighed inwardly, trying to decide whether I could face one of them, 'Oh well you have to eventually' I decided and fluttered down toward the shadow, It was Rachel.

She didn't see me coming and I landed behind her and morphed to Human, she carried on walking, I hesitated, this girl had been the first person to truly love me, She had made me fell so special, but then she had gone, left me alone in a world I no longer belonged in, I didn't know whether I could trust her not to do that to me again. 'It probably wasn't her first choice either, you know' my head said again. 'I know' I replied, 'Hey wait a sec, when did I start having conversation's with my own head?' No answer. Ah well, never mind, I gritted my teeth against what could happen and hurried on to catch Rachel, I saw her walking just in front of me and walked up behind her. I tapped her on the shoulder. She swung round to face me and her face broke into a huge smile, I couldn't help it, I smiled back, then she grabbed me and hugged me tightly, I put my arms around her and hugged her back. Right then I knew I could never have ran away properly, this was just to good to miss.

"What did you run off for?" she asked when we finally released each other,

"I was confused and scared" I told her, looking at my feet "I thought I'd lost you forever, Then you show up, it was just too much."

She looked at me; her perfect features a mask of confusion "I was ready to die Rachel. When you died, I had nowhere to go, nothing to live for, when Jake gave the order to ram the Blade ship I knew I was going to die and…and I welcomed it. But now you're here I don't know anymore" She looked at me, like she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She didn't do either, she just kissed me. We pressed against each other, I was taken aback at first but then relaxed completely, I had wanted just to see her again for so long and now there we were kissing, It was the best moment of my life, everything was just so perfect. We eventually broke apart, "Still have nothing to live for?" She asked me, "Oh no I have a lot to live for now" I told her with a grin, she grinned back at me. And I pulled her in for another kiss.

After what seemed like forever we broke apart again." Guess we better get back huh?" She asked with a smile.

"Yeah I suppose" I said "Err, Rachel how do we get back to the others? I have no idea where we are." I asked

"Hmm…good point" she said "Lets just keep walking, we don't know how big this place is but The Ellimist wouldn't let us get lost." So we did, we walked and talked, I had my arm around her and she was leaning against me. And to tell the truth I would have been perfectly happy for that walk to have gone on forever. But she was right and eventually we did find our way back to the group. Jake walked up to me and held out his hand,

"Everything in the past is the past. Agreed?" he asked

I looked at his outstretched hand, up at his face, to Rachel, then back to his face, I took his hand and shook it "Agreed" I told him with a grin, he grinned back at me, a deep wave of relief obviously passing across his face.

"Very well if you all are ready then I will transport you to your ship now." Said The Ellimist

"We are ready," everyone said in unison.

The next second I felt a very powerful tug on my neck and the world went black.


	4. Chapter 3: The Ship

**OK. here it is, finally! Sorry this took so long to put on but like I said before I had exams and things and also this chapter is longer I think so it took more time. Next chapter should see more action but I wont say anymore ;-) Like before plz read and review :-D hope you like it, and sorry for the abrupt ending, but I was bored of writing this chapter and wanted to get onto something abit more exciting rather than focusing on feelings etc. Anyway enough of me, hope you like it :-)**

Rachel

I woke up to find myself in a large room, in a big double bed, I sat upright a looked around. Cassie was sleeping in a similar bed down the other end of the room, the walls were steel but not a harsh steel, they looked softer somehow, there was a section of wall halfway down the room that had been folded away, I guessed that it was some sort of divider incase me or Cassie needed some privacy, there was a medium sized window in the far end wall with some sort of steel covering over it on the outside, the furniture other than the beds consisted of a pair of dressers which I found to be full of a selection of clothes from formal to camouflage and combat gear, next to each dresser was a big huge bag like the ones pro hikers use, and what looked like 2 M4s, I stared at them and then remembered what we were doing. It was likely to get rough although I wasn't sure why we needed guns we could morph and Toby could look after herself. There was also a door that led to a simple bathroom and two indents into the wall that looked like shelves, directly opposite the window was a big door that I presumed led to a corridor. I got up and headed to the dressers checked the one nearer to my bed and picked up a top, it wasn't hard to tell it was for me, as Cassie is a totally different size to me. I quickly pulled on a plain sweater, jeans and a pair of boots. Then I ventured toward the door, I contemplated waking Cassie but there was no point, let her sleep I thought, the door slid open soundlessly as I approached, I looked out both ways down the corridor, the walls were the same as in the room, a soft steel look. The door to our room was at the far end of a long corridor with multiple other doors leading off to other sections of the ship. I ventured down and heard noises coming from a large door at the far end of the corridor from our room, I walked up to it and again it silently opened for me. I looked about the place and immediately decided that it was the bridge. There was a raised platform in the centre facing a large viewing panel; the walls either side of this platform were covered with different work stations and panels, all of which looked very complicated. Ax was standing on the raised platform, obviously deep in thought. I walked up behind him, and as further proof that his mind was elsewhere, I managed to sneak up on him without realizing it, I gently touched his shoulder and he jumped about a mile into the air in surprise. I admit I had to stifle a laugh, seeing the normally composed Andalite look around so frantically.

"Whoa, calm down Ax it's only me." I giggled, but that seemed to do little for his nerves, he relaxed a little but still seemed edgy. You didn't have to know him as well as I did to know what he was edgy about.

"It's odd. Me being back from the dead isn't it?" I stated, with as little emotion in my voice as possible, I wanted to sound like I was in control.

_Forgive me, Rachel, but we had believed you were lost forever. We grieved for you and some of us moved on. It sounds harsh but we did, in our own ways, such as I went out to find your murderers and rip them apart._ He said his eyes downcast _Forgive me for believing you were lost, I should have kept hoping._

I looked at him for a second before playfully tapping him round the back of the head

"You think I wanted you do keep moping on about me?" I said "No I wanted you to get on with it, hunt down the yeerks, carry on with your lives, not sit around and sulk or grieve like Jake did. I mean even Tobias went on with life, albeit as a hawk and with no human contact, but still. No Ax you did the best thing you could have done, I don't need to forgive you for anything, and hey! I'm here now and everything is looking up! We can finally all get back to what we're best at" I grinned evilly at him "Smashing Crayak's things all over the walls"

He laughed loudly; _only you could have said it like that and not sounded, as humans say, crazy. And of course you are right, it would not have done to mope, I knew that then and I know that now._ He looked at me again, and a companionable silence settled over us, eventually I broke it

"So, what's this ship like?" I asked

_Well_ He said _It is very advanced and quite fast, but it was obviously not designed for any type of fighting, it has very limited firepower_ He told me

"I think that Crayak and the Ellimist wanted us to fight more on the ground of this planet rather than in space"

_Yes, I suppose you are right, and it does appear to have an extremely advanced propulsion system, even more so than the one I had on the Intrepid. So it does make sense. _He said staring absently with his main eyes at the console in front of him. His stalk eyes focused behind him, I guess I had startled him back into reality when I managed to sneak up on him earlier. He pressed something on the console he was looking at and I heard a metallic click as something was pushed forward.

"What was that?" I asked

_I don't know, all I did was ask the computer for a navigational read out of our current location, in an attempt to discern our current location and our estimated time of arrival along with any records of any planets or systems in or around our location. _He stated, concern passing over his face

"Erm, I don't think I quite got all that" I asked nervously

_I asked for a map_ He said simply

"Ah, why didn't you just say that in the first place?" I asked, needless to say he ignored me

Suddenly a light erupted in the centre of the bridge, we both shielded our faces with our hands. When our eyes adjusted we cautiously looked out from behind our protective hands and gasped, there in front of us was what appeared to be a holographic 3D map of space, complete with bright stars with planets and moons orbiting it. There was a red dot, which I presumed showed us our present location.

"Ax, is this the map you were asking for?" I asked

_This is…Incredible, Andalites have been trying for years to create a working holographic map like this, but we always thought that planetary rotation would make it impossible, this is ten times better than I could have hoped for!_ He nearly shouted, normally calm controlled voice shaking with excitement

"Ax as incredibly cool as it is, it is still only a map," I said, he ignored me again

_Based on this,_ He said_ We should arrive on the planet we are to fight Crayak's forces on, in approximately 2 weeks, and we should have very little if not no contact with any other life forms until then._

"Great." I said "We get no one else to talk to but each other for weeks and then when we do, they're trying to kill us. Where have I seen that before?"

_Ah. But as you said Rachel this is what we are good at. This is what we were born to do._

"I know, Ax. I know. It's just sometimes I wish we could be the ones watching and cheering on the sidelines, instead of being the fighters in the arena, alone and near death, waiting for the inevitable. And this time, it's worse than before" I knew I should stop there but I couldn't, I had to let it out "Last time I thought that if we died, we would be rewarded, I thought something would happen to make it all worthwhile, Heaven, if you want to call it that, but Ax, I've been there, I've seen death, and all I can remember is a cold, dismal place, like the storage unit at a mover's yard. And it's made me question whether it's worth it." I angrily brushed at the unwanted tears that had begun to roll down my face. I could tell Ax was looking at me, trying to decide what to do. Finally he walked slowly up to me and put his weak Andalite arms around me in a hug, I threw my arms around him and, did the thing I never used to do, I broke down, and I sobbed and sobbed into his shoulder.

_Rachel, _He said, and I looked up at him _Do not despair, maybe the Ellimist knew that you would be needed and he kept your essence in some sort of storage unit as you called it, or maybe the fact that you cant remember it is just another of life's mysteries, and besides, if you gave up now, uncountable numbers of life forms would die horribly at the hands of Crayak, would you want that? When you know you have to power to stop it? Would you sit idly by and watch it happen? Or would you stand up and fight, with everything you had against it? And no matter what happens, death is inevitable, so if what you saw is true then there is nothing you can do about it. You can only do what you think is right._

"Wow, Ax. I never knew you could be so insightful" I said with a watery chuckle, "Thanks Ax, I don't know what came over me, I'm stronger than that, I'm sorry you had to see it."

_Don't mention it, my studies into the Human psychology show that it is in fact unhealthy for a human to bottle up all it's emotions, and for someone like you, it is an honor that you hold me in such high regard that you could confide in me with such information. It is, as humans say, what friend's are for._

I beamed at him and he gave me one of his weird Andalite smiles. "I'm going to go and see if I can force Jake or anyone out of bed yet," I told him as I headed towards the door. He nodded his head in acknowledgement and I walked through the automatic doors and into the corridor.


	5. Chapter 4: Battle

**OK. This is a relatively short chapter, but it is my first battle scene, and I'm not very good at it, but hopefully you'll like it anyway. I had a mishap a few days ago where i submitted the wrong document called "Discontinuation" on this story, a major oops on my part ;-) sorry! It was for another story I'm writing that but I'm not confident enough to submit yet, but anyway, thanks to SouthrnBelle again for reviewing, you inspire me to continue :-D. And without further ado here it is.**

Ax

"DAMMIT! I SAID LEFT!! LEFT! NOT RIGHT!" roared Prince Jake at Marco from across the Bridge. A bridge that currently was filling with alarms, smoke, and red flashing lights.

"NO, YOU TOLD ME RIGHT!!!!" Marco spat back

"SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!" screamed Rachel "THIS IS NOT HELPING!" To my relief they both glared at each other and then turned back to their stations, it was hard enough piloting the ship to avoid the enemy fighter zipping around, shooting at our life support system points, as well as the large frigate pounding our shields and hull.

"One fighter coming up to you, Tobias 11 'o'clock!" Cassie shouted

I saw Tobias immediately start tapping buttons on his console and we were rewarded with a spectacular explosion on the view screen.

"OH YES! Bird Boy shoots! He scores!" Tobias cheered

_Do not lose focus_ I reminded him_ the frigate is our main concern, we just lost over 75 outer hull shielding_

"Right everyone, aim all your firepower at the point just above the bulge in their left flank, according to the computer that's where their fuel and engines are, so if we hit it BOOM they're dead" Said Rachel, and not for the first time, I was glad that I had appointed her as our Weapons and Battle officer.

_You realize that if we follow your plan_ I said looking over her shoulder from my vantage point_ That we will have only one shot at it before they rip us to pieces and we would have to be completely synchronized with each other in order to breach their shields and hull._

"Then we'll have to be careful" Said Marco shrewdly.

"I'm calculating it now" Rachel winced as she said the words, though I have no idea why some humans react that way sometimes.

"Rachel?! Calculating something? In a BATTLE?!" Marco gaped at her

Rachel rolled her eyes at him before turning back to her monitor, "OK, I'm sending attack vectors to all your screen now."

Tobias, Jake, Marco and Cassie all pressed some buttons and 4 screens blinked green

"OK, 5,4,3,2,1…NOW" Rachel roared

I looked up at the view screen in time to see 4 large beams blast directly from our forward point, and rip straight through the enemy ship like it was paper. It was strangely beautiful to watch the enemy vessel erupt in emerald flames as its engines ignited the remaining fuel supplies, causing a catastrophic explosion within the ship, effectively ripping it apart from the inside out. We all cheered at the sight and continued to watch the remains of our latest enemy float through space.

"Well," said Marco, "So much for having a quiet time to get to the planet"

"Ah, shut up" Rachel snapped at him, I presume still on an adrenaline high "It was fun!"

_Cassie, Can you give me a damage report?_ I said breaking up Marco's retort before an argument broke out.

"I'm trying" Said Cassie "Ah, yeah here we go, minimal damage to the outer hull on the port side, but other than that our shields held, they need to recharge though before we get into another fight."

"Ax, why don't you go take a rest" Prince Jake asked me "You've been on the bridge for nine hours straight"

_It is my pleasure to keep us going. I am the pilot._ I said, perhaps defensively, I'm not certain.

"Relax, Ax-Man" Tobias told me "I've learned a lot, I'm sure I can fly this thing through a quiet patch."

_I do not question you abilities Tobias, I merely do not trust this area of space._ I said

"It'll be OK" He assured me "If anything comes up, we'll send for you straight away."

I was wary of leaving the bridge, but my tiredness got the better of me and I relented _Very well, come and get me in 3 hours_ I told them, and headed through the door. Just as it closed I heard Tobias say to one of the others, "Right OK I can fly this thing once it's going, but do any of you know how to start it?" and heard the others laugh.

I shook my head; I will never understand Human humor, never.


	6. Note

**Hey! I'm writing this to let you guys know why I wont be updating for a while, I am going on holiday and we don't get a connection in our place there, so I wont be able to update, however I will write chapters so when I get back I should have a few to put on. Cya soon! MiniChris**


	7. Chapter 5: New Beings, Old Enemies

**OK, I'm back! Sorry I havent updated in AGES, but my life has been very chaotic recently so I couldnt write anything, also, I had no idea how to continue, so sorry again! but its here now, this wil be a sort of test chapter, if I get reviews then I'll resume it, if not I'll just stop, so anyway here you go! BTW sorry its EXCEPTIONALLY SHORT, but as I siad its a test, if I get reviews of it then I'll make them much longer, definitely longer than this one, porbably longer than the others too. In fact if I continue my next chapter will be the longest one yet, I promise! P.S. please tell me any ideas you've got on how the story could go from here, I'm running out fast!  
**

"The woods feel strange today." Said Lead Hunter Olias to his second-in-command Thi'ro. "Indeed. They seem to be waiting for something important to happen. But don't quite know what it is."

"If you say so. How you can tell all that is still beyond me" Said Olias, shaking his head at his friend, armor glinting in the harsh light from the three suns overhead.

"Still, we must press on if we are to catch this accursed Bishen and get it back to the village before nightfall. And I don't have to tell you that if we don't there'll be hell to pay."

Thi'ro grunted in response and resumed checking the tracks they had found in the softer mud left by the rains earlier.

"We are closing in on it," He stated simply, his studded armor mask casting strange light reflections all around the surrounding tree trunks.

"Then we should hurry and catch it, hopefully we can get back to the village before Vi'An and be saved from his delusional ranting about how he is the superior Hunter and should be Lead instead of me." Olias said, looking up at the sun. "We only have a few hours max before the sun sets and the Bishen head off again. Lets move" Thi'ro grunted his response and, completely silently, moved into the brush. Olias sighed and squinted into the sun again, he wouldn't ever tell Thi'ro but he had felt it too, something was coming, and he didn't know if they could get out of it unscathed.

Visser One scowled at the seemingly never ending whiteness of Z-Space, it was bad enough being locked on a ship bound to an unknown planet to fight those Andalite-Human freaks again, but now he was stuck on a tiny ship with four howlers, that pompous oaf known as "The One" how big an ego could you get?!, and to top it all off there was also, if possible, a bigger freak than those humans, the thing that called itself Drode. Not for the first time he found his mind wondering if it would have been so bad to stay in that prison on Earth, to have not taken Crayak's offer of a chance at freedom, then he had jumped at the chance, but now he thought that if he had known what the cost would be, would he still have taken it so eagerly? Of course he would, he was Visser One! He didn't get to that rank by falling at such a small hurdle as bad traveling conditions, he had gotten soft in that prison. The sound of arguing floated to his ears from outside the door to his little sanctuary that was his tiny sleeping quarters. He sighed, his anger rising to meet the anger in the voices coming from outside. Oh he would bear these conditions, but nothing and no one said he had to do it gracefully. "WHAT ARE YOU MORONS BICKERING ABOUT THIS TIME?!" he roared, his new human throat tickling at the sudden use, he hadn't spoken much in his time aboard this ship. But when he did, his voice, although not as chilling as his Andalite one, commanded respect and instilled a natural fear in creatures, it was like his overall aura, unnatural and cold. Death incarnate. The arguing stopped immediately, all voices ceased, except one, "Oh here we are, the all powerful Visser has come to deal out justice" sneered the condescending tones of The One. His name was adequate, he was the only creature that his voice and aura had absolutely no effect on, something that never ceased to amaze and annoy the once-great Visser. "What is the problem this time?" he sighed, "This dapsen accused me of stealing food! ME!" screamed Drode, "you did!" yelled The One, "Did not!" "Did too!" Visser One sighed again, this was going to be a long trip.


	8. Chapter 6: Arrivals and Fights

**OK here it is Chapter 6, as promised it is the longest chapter in this story, but still not long enough I dont think but I cna now think abit more on how its going to go and you gusy can tell me if you think its going to right way. Please Review :) Thanks to all who reviewed last time much appreciated!**

Cassie

We were getting close to the planet, according to the computers only a few more days in space at most, which was a great relief to everyone, especially Tobias who everyone could see was missing the sky, being a hawk so he was prone to get snappy and irritable with people when they invaded his space in one the periods when he moped around. I could tell this was a particulary bad one and wasn't going to get much better because Rachel was starting to get tired of it. I could tell from the way she was looking at him as he fluttered from a chair, to a beam on the ceiling then back to a chair, that she was going to start something that could go very bad, very quickly, the others had seen it too, and were looking nervously from Rachel to Tobias then back to Rachel, even Ax had picked up on the storm on the horizon and was staying quiet, steering the ship towards the planet.

"Strange, all this white, very different from Earth where we had the sky, isn't it?" said Rachel, her eyes locked on Tobias's head.

_Yes, Strange._ Said Tobias shortly

"I think I prefer it" said Rachel. Here we go, I thought

_That's nice, good luck with that_ snapped Tobias quickly

"No need to take a tone with me Bird-Boy" Rachel snapped back, she was getting angry and had probably forgotten that it was her that had started this whole conversation in the first place.

_I'll do exactly how I like, you don't hold any power over me, Blondie_ Tobias threw back, and everyone took in breath, even Ax shifted uncomfortably, no one, not me, not Jake, not even Tobias could get away with calling Rachel Blondie, she hated it and wouldn't stand for it, remember what I said about things going very bad very quickly? I was right wasn't I?

"What did you call me?" Rachel said quietly, anger dripping from her voice

_I called you a Blondie, and why shouldn't I? You have blonde hair, so you're a Blondie don't see why you're so angry you call me Bird Boy so why can't I give as good as I get?_

"I do NOT call you Bird Boy, well not often, and even though I'm Blonde you shouldn't call me Blondie because I don't like it and you should respect my wishes!" Rachel was nearly shouting now, Jake and Marco were slowly itching toward the door, desparately trying not to gain the attention of either of the warring lovers, strange that, I still haven't got used to calling Rachel and Tobias that, but thats what they are I suppose...I think anyway, who knows after this? But surely it cant be that bad can it?

_Oh shut the hell up! _I heard Tobias shout snapping me back to the present, Rachel had been on her feet glaring daggers at Tobias, but at his shout she seemed to shrink, her mouth opened and closed as though she couldn't think of anything to say. After a minute she realised Tobias wasn't going to say anything more and turned on her heel and walk out the door head held high we all watched her until the door slid shut behind he, then we all turned to Tobias who was looking at the door with fierce Hawk eyes, from which no one could guess what he was feeling at any time, then he fluttered down to the floor and calmly walked out the door after Rachel, and we all assumed that he was going to follow her into the she and I shared. But he didn't he walked down past our door and turned into his and Marco's room the door sliding shut behind him.

OK, I take it back, maybe it can be that bad.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Olias heard it before he saw it, a mighty roar, that seemed to come from everywhere at the same time, he instinctively looked up and gasped, a great black cloud was speeding toward the ground at great speed, something was going to hit the Planet!

"Thi'Ro! Look at that!" He called, his Second-In-Command looked up and gasped just like him

"What in the names of The Ellimist and Crayak is that?!" Thi'Ro called back

"I have no idea" Olias responded

They watched as the object continued to speed overhead, it seemed to be slowing down as if it was going to land. They watched as it did land, lowering itself into the trees just ahead of them.

Thi'Ro came running up to him,

"Lets go have a look" Olias said eagerly, he loved finding new things, which was part of the reason why he was a Hunter, Thi'Ro considered it for a moment then reluctantly nodded his head.

They quickly and expertly shot through the trees unti they came to a great clearing that seemed to have been created for this very purpose. As they cleared the trees they got a good look at the ship, it seemed familiar to Olias, though he couldn't think from where, they had no ships of their own only ideas of what they could be like, it was relatively small for what it was and what it could do, black and had few features except a strange symbol on the side, Olias studied it for a few lng minutes before it hit him.

"No, it cant be..." He muttered then The doors opened and a figure stepped out onto the ramp and all doubt vanished.

"SHIT!" Olias cried "RUN!"

He watched Thi'Ro start to run but suddenly get picked up off the ground by a large animal type think and slammed into a tree, the creature seemed to study him for a minute then opened its large jaws and ripped off his Friend's head in one clean bite. Blood erupted everywhere covering everything in a red liquid, Olias let out a cry of despair and tried to run to his friend but another creature picked him up and slammed him into a nearby tree,

"I am going to die" he thought, but just as the creature was about to bite, a cold voice filed the clearing

"No! Stop! He could be useful to us, and we need all the help we can get if we are to defeat these freaks, Knock him out and put him in the ship I will deal with him later"

Olias couldn't believe what he was seeing, it couldn't be, it just couldn't be Visser One. Could it?

He had no time to ponder it any further before a large object struck him and he lost consciousness


	9. Chapter 7: Unexpected

**OK this is a short chapter because I was thinking about how this story was going to go, adn then this polt twist hit me! I wrote it out as quickly as possible before I could forget. It is a little strange but I think could be interesting later. Anyway thanks to all who reviewed! To Miguel, I have thought about what you said and have e-mailed you already but I thought about your idea of a Yeerk morphing Tom, which was good, but unfortuneately the only Yeerk who had Tom as a morph was killed by Rachel before she was murdered but an interesting thought none the less! Anyway here you go, hope you like it, tell me what you think of my idea!**

Tobias

Sometimes I hate those sliding doors. Not because they are inconvenient but because when you're angry you want to hear a door slam behind you. It's very satisfying, well, that's what I think anyway , and if the door is an automatic sliding door, then you can't slam it. I wish I could have slammed the door then. It would have been so much more dramatic. Would have given my exit such a different feel at the end, maybe that would have been better.

I stormed through the door, I could feel the others staring at me. Who could blame them? That was quite possibly the biggest argument me and Rachel had ever had, and what was it about? Me calling her a name? No, it may have been about that, but it was me that was the problem, I had been moping a lot and it was driving her crazy, I could see it was, but I couldn't help it. I demprphed back to hawk, I don't know why I morphed to walk down to the door, but never mind that now. I fluttered up to my little perch on the wall that I slept on. I sat there and I thought. I thought and thought and thought, and slowly drifted off on my perch.

Sometime later, I woke up very suddenly, which is not uncommon when you are a hawk. You have to be constantly on alert. What was strange was that I was no longer in the room on the ship. For a second I didn't know where I was, then I caught on.

"What do you want now, Ellimist?" I asked, I didn't even try to figure out when I had morphed from hawk to human

"Tobias." The Ellimists booming voice filled my head "I have a task for you, on top of the one you are currently undertaken"

"How did I know you were going to say that?" I moaned

"Crayak and I have come to an understanding on this topic, it took a long time, which is why I am only telling you now."

"This is not sounding good Ellimist" I said suspicion dripping from my voice

"Crayak has placed Drode, his right hand, on his team" The Ellimsit began

"WHAT?!" I roared "That isn't fair! He has powers far beyond any of us!"

"That is precisely what him and me were discussing. We came to the understanding that Crayak was allowed Drode in exchange for resurrecting Rachel. However, he has now come to me with an interesting proposition, one that I accepted. Drode is allowed to use all of his powers. With virtually no limitations, except the obvious, no directly altering the world of timeline. In exchange for this Crayak has allowed one of my team to get special treatment, as you would say."

"What does that mean?" I asked

"Tobias, I want you to be the one with special treatment, you are different from the others. Rachel may have been resurrected from the dead, but you have a unique genetic structure, part Human, part Anadalite, part Hawk. So you are perfect."

"I still don't know what that means, either my DNA or the special treatment"

"It means Tobias, that you are unique beyond all others. Drode is Crayak's right hand, so has powers similar to Crayak and I. I want to offer the same right to you."

"What?" I gasped

"I want YOU to be my right hand, my avatar in this plain, jsut as Drode is to Crayak. You would have all Drodes powers at your disposal. What do you say? Please Hurry we do not have much time"

I thought about it, I really did, it was so much power, something to define me, and we didn't stand a chance against Drode without it. There was no choice.

"I accept" I said nervously

"Very good. Now I will grant them to you"

A bright white light shone from a point just ahead of me, the light expanded until it shone all around me, then seemed to recede into me. I felt power flow through my body. And instantly I knew how to use them all. It was incredible! Unimaginable! The power!

"The powers are yours Tobias, use them as you will. But remember the rules that apply to me, Crayak and Drode all apply to you."

I nodded, understanding fully for once. Turned and opened a rift back to the ship. Dont ask how because I don't know. I just did it. I walked throughan was instantly back in the room.

Oh yes this was cool!


	10. Chapter 8: Captured and Secrets

**OK here it is, Chapter 8. Thanks yo all who reviewed. And to Desteny Wolf, I will be writing more from the Bad Guys POV I Just wasnt sure how, hopefully this is right, tell me what you think. Everyone Please Read and Review again! Thanks. **

**P.S. I think the chapters are getting longer! Yay!! Hopefully this will continue, hopefully. **

Visser One stormed through the ship towards the holding cell they were keeping the native in. He had heard that he was not cooperating at all with them. Apparently not even The One had been able to break him. Oh the gloating if he could do it. He reached the door and it slid silently open, the room beyond was small and grey, just like the rest of the ship, but there was another door directly opposite the door he was standing in, this one had a number pad next to it, he calmly walked up to it and entered a 7 digit code, the door slid open exposing the native chained to a chair, he looked pathetic and beaten, his face was a mask of bruises and gashes, only one eye could open, and from the way he was slumped in the steel chair, the rest of him couldn't be that good either.

The Visser walked up to him and crouched down till their faces were level, he hesitated before he began, he had been in this situation before, with a prisoner needing to be interrogated, but he had let that fool of a sub-visser take control of that, and the prisoner escaped, he still had no idea how the child had survived that much pain and pleasure with his mind intact. The entire episode was considered one of the Visser's worst failures, one of the biggest disasters in the Earth Invasion. But the hesitation was a micro-second, undetectable, he would avenge that failure today.

"Who are you?" He said, the native just looked at him, seemed to smile then looked once again at the floor. His reaction was confusing, what was the smile about? What did this native know that he didn't? Were the Ellimist's fools already here? No, it was impossible, the ship's sensors would have detected them.

"You do realise, that by refusing to answer our basic questions, you only cause yourself more pain?" The Visser said, false concern and compulsion in his voice. The native did nothing.

"Very well have it your way." He turned round took something from the wall and turned back, he was holding a long, black, metal instrument.

"This is a Bla'Vaak, it is the most powerful instrument of pain in the Galaxy. It has thousands of function some small, some not so small, all painful. Now I'll ask once more who are you?"

The Native looked up, at the weapon, then back to the Visser. Opened his mouth and spoke in a hoarse voice, full of conviction.

"When the others come. The Ellimist's Angels to save us from Crayak's wrath and his forces of tyranny, when they come I will be the one to look at you and laugh. Before I bathe in your blood, Yeerk, I know what you are, and I shall never surrender my people. The Ellismist's Angel's defeated you before. In our legends, we know all about the legendary Earth children that defeated you. When they come, my people will worship them. We are many, and will follow them into battle if we must. Tell me, if you were scared of them before, what chance do you think you have against them, AND our armies? Not much of one, I'd guess." The smiled again, then turned his eyes to the floor.

The Visser was shocked, and scared. That didn't happen a lot. But he was, they would never be able to defeat an army and the freaks. He looked again at the native and took a step back. This was bad. But there was always the chance he was lying. But was it worth the risk?

* * *

Olias stared at the floor, for he knew that if he looked up the servant of Crayak would know everything he needed to from his eyes. He would know the lie. It was true the legends spoke of the Ellimist and Crayak and the battle to take place on this planet and the Earth Conflict that happened before. But very few believed and those few were divided into the followers of Crayak and the Ellimist, the rest of his people simply did not have the time or the interest to ponder such things, they believed it was a load of pre historic drawing made by their ancestors, not worth the consideration of modern civilisation. But, if this alien was a Yeerk and the others were servants of Crayak then the legend was true, and the Ellimist's Angel's had to arrive soon. Didn't they? And what of the darkest part of the legend? Where the very universe itself would be shaken by the conflict between the ultimate warriors of good and evil? That one would travel with the soldiers of Crayak, one with the soldiers of the Ellimist. Could that mean that he was locked up near to a being that controlled the very power of Evil itself? For the first time since he became a believer he hoped against hope that the legend was false.

* * *

I walked through the sliding doors onto the Bridge, Ax looked at me and smiled his Andalite smile.

_Cassie, Marco, Jake and Toby are sleeping, Tobias I have not seen._ He said

"OK, well I'll keep you company then" I said, he nodded and I sat down in my station

We sat in silence for a long time, in which he seemed to want to sya something but wasn't sure if he could or not. Finally he did.

_Rachel, you and Tobias. Are you, OK as humans say_? He said, looking directly at me

I sighed "I don't know, Ax. I really don't. I thought we were but then after yesterday, I'm not sure what he feels anymore."

Ax nodded slowly, _What do YOU feel Rachel? Do you still love him?_

I thought about it, it was such a simple question, but so complicated in its simplicity, I thought and thought, Ax never taking his eyes off me.

"Yes, I do, I think. I need to talk to him. Sort this mess out." I said resolutely.

Just then the door opened, Ax and I spun round to see Tobias himself walk in, I don't know what it was, but there was something different about him, he seemed to, glow slightly, and he seemed more sure of himself, like he finally understood what he wanted and needed to do. He looked around when he came in, as if he was just seeing the Bridge for the first time, then turned his attention to Ax and I. I don't know why but right then, when his eyes met with mine, I saw something new about him, as if he had been changed, and at the same time I knew that what I had said before was completely true, I loved him more than ever.

_Tobias? What has happened? You seem different_ said a very concerned looking Ax

Tobias turned his head to Ax and smiled, it was a warm smile, filled with understanding, like what a very close friend would give another friend if he could help him sort out all of his problems.

"Lots has happened Ax, all of which I want to tell you. None of which I shall, till the time is right." Tobias said, he sounded exactly the same yet different.

"Tobias?" I said, feeling very small, yet very special as he turned to me "We need to talk."

"Yes, I think we do" He said "But not yet, I have to think about things before I can talk to you about what you want to talk about. I think its best if we wait a while before we think about it anymore. Give us some space." He gave me another very warm smile and walked back out of the door.

_What was that?_ Ax demanded, he looked more shocked than I've ever seen him

"I'm not sure, but I know something's changed. And I don't know if I like it" I said

_How can you not know what it is, but immediately dislike it?_ Ax asked

"Because I don't like the fact that Tobias just blew me off." I said a dangerous edge to my voice "Screw the space. I want to talk to him now!" I stormed out of the bridge and headed straight to Tobias and Marco's door, which slid open, and I found myself looking straight into Tobias's face, he smiled again, and looked me in the eye.

"I knew you'd come, I didn't want Ax to feel uncomfortable, so I made it look like I didn't want to talk, that way we should be left alone because Ax will tell everyone your in a mood with me and I'm still moping. Seeing as Marco went to stay in Jake's room earlier because I was moping then we should have a few hours peace." He said a grin on his face.

"So, you didn't mean what you said back there?" I asked

"Hell no, I don't want to keep fighting, I want things to be back the way they were, I hate fighting with you, I have to do it enough already. I'm sorry I was moping before, but I wont be doing it anymore, I have purpose now"

I was shocked to say the least "Well, I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have blown up at you the way I did, But what do you mean you have purpose now?"

"As I said before, I want to tell you but I cant yet, needless to say I realised something earlier and its made me better. You'll see." He grinned again, and kissed me gently on the lips, for about a second I was too shocked at his suddenness, but then I recovered and leaned into him, deepening the kiss. All I could think of then, other than focusing on kissing him, was Thank God we have a few hours to ourselves.


	11. Chapter 9: First Strike

Marco

I was in a fantastic mood. I don't know why, well thats not true, I did know why. I just didn't understand it. I was happy because Rachel and Tobias had basically just broke up. Ax, Cassie, Toby and Jake were very concerned and sad yadda yadda, but not me. I thought it was the best thing that happened so far on this trip. I knew it was wrong and horrible and all sorts of disgusting, but hey, I couldn't help it. I was dreaming sweet dreams when I was woken up by a cool female thought-speak voice.

_Landing sequence engaged. All passengers to positions for disembarking procedure. _I got up as fast as I could, why hadn't anyone woken me earlier?! I raced through the door to the Bridge, and I knew why no one had woken me.

The entire Bridge was bathed in red light from the emergency warning lights on the walls, and a loud siren was wailing, the female voice saying:  
_Warning, warning malfunction. Code 334-938. Warning._

Ax was lying sprawled on the floor, unconscious, Rachel, Jake, Toby and Cassie were at their stations but could do nothing, and Tobias was standing at the pilot's post obviously getting ready to take the helm. He couldn't fly yet! I could a bit; I'd trained on a few planes before we left Earth.

"Whats going on?" I shouted

"We were going to start an orbit of the planet, scan to see what's down there. Then suddenly there was a massive lurch and the lights came on, and the voice started. Ax was trying to do something with that console and it blew up in his face!" Rachel shouted back to me

"What's Tobias doing?!" I yelled looking toward him

"Trying to pilot us down!" Tobias shouted.

"Can you do it? I thought you couldn't fly yet!!" I shouted

"YES, I can if you would shut the hell up!" He yelled back furiously

He turned and typed something in on the console, which lit up, then promptly exploded in a shower of fire and sparks, narrowly missing Tobias's face.

"Shit!" He swore. Then turned to us. "I can get it down but its not going to go well," he said "All of you get Ax and yourselves into an escape pod and jettison, I pilot this thing down then go Hawk and fly out"

"Right! You heard Bird-Boy!" I yelled "Lets go!"

The others looked at me then Tobias

"We can't leave him!" Rachel yelled, and for some reason those words made me so angry it was crazy.

"He'll be fine, If we all stay we'll die then game over for everyone! He has the best chance! Come on!" I said frantically looking Rachel straight in the eye. She looked at me weird, like she was just seeing something.

They looked uneasily at Tobias, but I could tell I had won.

"Right everyone grab a limb, Toby go open the pod." Jake snapped taking charge again.

They all cast one glance at Tobias, eyes conveying more feeling than words ever could. Then headed out the door, before Rachel could get anymore upset.

We all raced, as fast as we could with an Andalite in our hands. Got into the pod and strapped in. I punched the button and the door slid closed and sealed with a soft hiss. The female voice came back.

_Pod One door locked and secure. All files transferred to Pod One computer. Launch in ten seconds en-counting. 10_

_9_

We all looked back into the hallway. All our thoughts with the brave soldier on the other side.

_8_

_7_

_6_

_5_

Rachel was quietly sobbing in the corner.

_4_

_3_

_2_

Cassie put her arm round her friend "He'll be fine" She said softly "I know" sobbed Rachel "I know"

_1_

_Launch. _

The pod exploded out of the ship at breakneck speed, we fell for what seemed to be a long time, but was really only 5 minutes. Then with a sickening lurch and a hard smash we hit the ground. Hard. We scrambled out and looked up. Just in time to see the Ship come hurtling through the clouds. We watched as it grew from just a small dot, to being a huge fireball erupting through the sky. We watched as it sailed over us and toward a distant section of forest. It disappeared from view, and we waited with baited breath. Then it came. The sound. A resonating boom. I cant tell you how loud it. No words could. Then the shockwave hit. It blew the trees all round us. Some fell, some stayed up, some lost leaves. It knocked all the air out of us. We slowly got up. I was first, I looked at the sky and my jaw hit the floor. I heard the others gasp and Rachel scream.

The Sky was red. Blood red, and there in the distant was a mushroom cloud. It was straight out of a history film. A nuclear detonation. The most powerful form of power and destruction known to man. Even the Andalites were scared of it. It was the only weapon the Humans had over them. And it was there. Just thank god the radiation would be absorbed by the emergency dampener the Ellimist had put on. But still there was no way Tobias survived. No chance in hell, and we had left him there to die.

* * *

Visser One smiled as the computer voice rang out over the ship

_Direct hit. Enemy ship disabled. Crash landing ETA 5 minutes. Warning enemy vessel reactor breached. Detonation imminent on impact. _

This was excellent. They would either die in the explosion, or be forced to make their own shelter. Give himself more time to interrogate his native, and prepare. He watched as the ship tore through the sky. And he watched as the reactor exploded. He didn't often compliment Human invention, but a Nuclear detonation was a beautiful and wondorous thing to behold. His only question was, why the Ellimist had used a Nuclear reactor? It may have been the easiest way, rather than the complicated Andalite and Yeerk technology, but it was so much more dangerous. But, who could fathom those beings? He shrugged it off and went to tell the others and his captive the good news.

* * *

**DUN, DUN, DUUUUUUUUNNN! lol. This was wa very hard chapter to write, but dont worry, I sort fo know where this is going, there is some method to my madness. :)**

**Next chapter may take a little longer becuase I dont quite know how I'm going to write it. Do I tell you Tobias's fate? Or do I make you sweat? :)**

**Oh well. As always please Read and Review!**


	12. Chapter 10: After

**OK its finally here. This was really hard to write I thought. I'm not happy with it, nor the chapter before this, but hopefully the next ones will make up for them. Please again Read And Review. Plus they are too short now. Sorry.**

The Visser was still grinning as he made his way down to the holding cell yet again. He was going to enjoy telling this stubborn native about what had happened. The door slid open for him, and there was the Native. Looking, as always, stubbornly at the floor. The Visser slid a chair from the corner of the room and sat in front of him.

"Well, it seems we have some news of your precious Ellimist Angels" He sneered. The Native actually looked up! Good he wanted to hear this.

"They are dead." He said coldly, eagerly watching the Native's Face. His gaze was met with hard eyes

"You lie" Was all the creature said

"Really? Well I swear on my own life that what I am about to show you is real. If it isn't then let the Ellimist kill me by my own wish." He sneered again.

He walked over to the console on the wall and pushed a button. A screen slid down in front of the creature. He pushed another button and the screen flicked to life.

The screen showed a blue sky, not even a cloud was obscuring the view, there seemed to be a black dot in the sky, very small but just noticeable. It seemed to grow and grow until it was clearly visible, it was ship. The Ellimist's insignia clearly visible on the side. It roared through the sky getting lower and lower until it started to hit the trees, snapping the thickest and most ancient tress as if they were twigs. It eventually hit the floor and exploded. Red gas was flung high into the atmosphere turning the sky red, then the mushroom cloud followed. The Ship disintegrated into the cloud of fire and smoke along with trees in a huge circle.

The Visser looked eagerly at the Native but was again astounded by his reaction. The thing was positively beaming at him!

"What are you so happy about? Your 'Saviours' are dead!" The Visser roared

The Native shook his head, still grinning. "You just confirmed our salvation!" it said triumphantly "On the day of arrival, the sky shall go blood red, the product of Crayak's wrath and desperation. When the sky turns the cloud shall follow, the cloud will be made of fire and destruction. This shall herald the coming of the Angel's, they shall come from the fire and destroy Crayak's minions, and from the heart of Crayak's weapons shall arise the greatest of the Angels. The one the Ellimist trusts above all others. He shall be the one to end Crayak's influence and save us all." The Native laughed. "You are really not very good at intimidating people, are you?"

The Visser stormed out, outwardly enraged, but inwardly terrified. If that thing knew this then what about the others? The rest of his people? The Visser only hoped they didn't.

* * *

**3 Days Later**

Jake

"Marco, put that one up over there, Cassie strap it on with that vine, and then we're done!" I said happily. Our camp was nearly complete. Our morphs and Toby's blades had made cutting down some trees and vines, as well as moving them very easy. We had put up parts of trunks to make pillars and used vines to strap them together, then used large leaves to make walls and roofs. We piled large amounts of leaves on the floor to make beds; I just hoped there were no dangerous bugs here. We had made several of these huts, morphing had made them very quick, as well as easy, to put up. We were going out in twos every night to hunt for whatever we could kill to cook and eat at the camp, we just trusted the Ellimist that he hadn't made the meat toxic.

I went into the central and largest of the huts, the one were using as a sort of greeting hall. Rachel followed me in and gave me a look that clearly said "What Now?" She hadn't said a single word since Tobias... well, you know.

"Go see if Ax needs any help finding a water supply" I told her firmly

She nodded and left. I was very worried about her, in a survival situation her mind set was the worst possible one to have. It could get her and the others killed. I sighed and walked into the blistering heat. Once the cloud had dissipated we had seen that this planet had two suns. Meaning that in the day it was incredibly hot, but at night it felt incredibly cold. I walked round the "Hall" as I called it and came face to face with Cassie coming in the opposite direction

"Hey" She said, a small smile on her face "We finished that hut, and I'm pretty sure thats the last one"

"Good" I hesitated "Cassie, I want you to do something for me. Something important"

"What?" she said giving me a curious look

"I want to talk to Rachel, see if you can break her out of this funk she's in. We cant have her like this its too dangerous."

"Jake, she just lost Tobias, I think we can give her a bit of slack."

"No, we can't that's the point! Her mindset is too dangerous in a survival situation. Just talk to her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid to endanger herself or others. I don't want to lose anyone else out here." I knew I sounded harsh, but I had no choice, we couldn't have her like this.

I sighed, why did Tobias have to go and get himself killed? It wasn't fair. But I knew, deep down that it had happened for a reason. Don't ask me how I knew, but I did, and I didn't like the thought that same with it, that something was going to happen, that none of us had any real control over. It scared the hell out of me.

* * *

Olias couldn't help grinning; the fools had thought they had won. But they had just made it worse, his people would be in uproar. The prophecies would be looked at again, followers building power, readying themselves for the warrior's arrival. He just hoped that most had gone to the Ellimist's side, rather than Crayak's. If not, then Ellimist help them all. 


	13. Chapter 11 The Encounter and the feeling

**Hey! It's BACK! Hehe, Sorry for the gap in here, I stopped writing it for a bit then lost it, but then I was going through my old pen drive and I found it! Hope this one lives up to the rest, and I'll be posting another chap in the next few days if the reviews are good :D so please Read and Review to get this story back up and running! :D**

**Rachel**

I walked, in silence, out of the makeshift hall we had made towards the edge of the clearing where Ax was collecting water, I spotted him on the other side of the river that ran around the outside of the camp and went to go round to him, but as I rounded the bend I heard a whisper "Hey, Rachel over here, I need to talk to you." I looked over toward the sound, as spotted Marco sitting in the shadow of one of the huts, he motioned for me to follow, and, more intrigued than I should have been, I complied. Together, we left the clearing and entered the forest at the edge of the encampment. We walked for around 10 minutes when Marco suddenly spun round on the spot to face me.

"Well, here we are." He said, and looked at me expectantly "Well? What do you think?"

"Think of what?" I said, breaking my 3 day silence, "This part of the forest looks the same as the part we passed 5 minutes ago. Just lots of wood and plants and insects biting my legs. So why don't you dispense with all the dramatics and get to the point." I said, "You told me you had something to talk with me about, you got my attention, now what is it?"

Marco actually looked like he was lost for words, which was definitely a first that I could remember, but it didn't last long till he found his voice again,

"Yes, your right" He said, and I raised an eyebrow, something was up, Marco never agreed with me on this sort of thing without SOME kind of smart assed remark, "Rachel, you've been acting weird, everyone's noticed, we know that losing Tobias was a significant blow, but it isn't like you at all to close up like you have the passed few days, the others just think that you've never had to deal with anything like this before and that this is how you react, but I think that something else is bothering you, so I brought you out here so that we can talk about it without the others listening in through paper-thin leaves we have to call home." He finished, and gave me another expectant look, like I was just going to suddenly pour out all my feelings and problems to him of all people. Truth be told, there WAS something else bothering me, and it was bothering me alot, see, in the final moments before we all abandoned ship and Tobias, Marco had shown a part of himself and I only saw it at the last second, and I didn't like it, not at all. Marco had acted like he WANTED us to leave Tobias, like he had HOPED that Tobias would die, and I wanted to know why, and I wanted to know what had happened to Tobias after we had that argument, Ax had noticed too, but he never told us what happened. And now he never would, and there was nothing we could do about it. I felt so...helpless. I hadn't felt this way often, and I hated it, but it was there, and all of a sudden I was sobbing, I was horrified but I couldn't stop. I was sobbing into MARCO'S shoulder! Of all people I had to do it in front on him. But he didn't back away or anything, he just put his arms round me and held me. It was the sort of thing I thought Tobias would do, in fact, it was exactly what Tobias would have done.

After a few minutes my sobbing subsided and I looked up from Marco's shoulder, his face was inches away from mine, I could feel his heart racing and mine accelerated to match it, he bent down slightly, and before I really knew what was happening he was kissing me. I was shocked, my mind racing, I was now kissing the guy who I thought had wanted the love of my life dead, the guy who had convinced me to leave Tobias to die. What was I doing?! But I didn't stop, I couldn't, it was wrong, it was horribly wrong; I should be mourning Tobias, not kissing Marco! Eventually we both broke for air,

"Woah," he said "That was unexpected."

"No kidding" I agreed, an awkward silence descended between us which stretched for several minutes, eventually I decided to break it, "Ummmm, maybe we ought to get back, the others will be wondering where we are."

"yeah, yeah we should" Marco agreed looking annoying proud of himself, like I was some kind of conquest, but I didn't have the energy to react, my mind was racing, What had I just done? Why didn't I stop? I had no answers for even myself, I just hoped that wherever Tobias was, that he would forgive me.

**Drode**

I stood at the edge of the impact crater, I saw the fires still burning hot and fast, all these days after the crash of the Ellimist's ship. Something felt...odd. I couldn't put my finger on it, something was not right down there, something had happened that neither myself, the Visser, or Crayak had planned, it unnerved me, I was the most powerful being in this plain of existence! My power was rivalled by only Crayak and the Ellimist themselves! So what could possibly be going on to give me this feeling? I was about to go down to have a look for myself, when I heard the overbearing tones of The One reach me,

"Drode! Get here NOW! I need you to move this crap out of my way! Do you expect me to WALK THORUGH IT?!"

I shuddered, this creature was unbearable! The sooner we destroyed these human fools once and for all the better then I could finish this annoying snob and be done with it. I shot once last look into the smouldering crater and spun round to the Yeerk.


	14. Chapter 12: Lost, Found and Failed

**Hey :D after another break, here it is, the next chapter, I am actually going to finish this one, and may write another, now that I have more time. Anyway, enjoy, R+R and see you for the next chapter! Which should be within the next day or two.**

**Cassie**

I left Jake in the hall and went out to look for Rachel, I knew that Jake had sent her to check on Ax but when I found him he told me that he had not seen Rachel all day. I checked her hut, my hut, all over the encampment, but she seemed to have vanished, same as Marco. I was getting worried, Rachel was in a very sensitive state of mind, and Marco was really not the person she needed right now, although, I thought, the only person she needed now was dead, vaporized in a cloud of ash and death. No, I couldn't think like that, she needed us, me, to be strong; I must be strong, for her... And Tobias.

I headed for the main hut again, hoping to find Jake so that he could tell us what to do next, a fragile Rachel combined with Marco could produce horrible, and dangerous, results, and we couldn't have the camp falling apart before we had even laid eyes on the enemy. As I rounded Ax's hut, Marco strolled past, eyes blank, staring absent-mindedly into space, as if he was remembering something, and from the look on his face, it was most definitely a good thing. "Marco" I said, and he jumped out of his skin. "Cassie, my God, don't jump out at people like that!" He gasped.

"Sorry," I replied, although I hadn't been sneaking anywhere, "Have you seen Rachel anywhere? I've been looking for her everywhere, I can't find her. You know what she's like right now; it's dangerous for her to be alone here."

His eyes glazed for a split second, before he regained his composure and nearly succeeded in looking confused, "Rachel? Nah, not since this morning" He replied, the lie showing clearly through his voice. I looked at him, in a way that I hoped was hard. "You're lying to me." I said, "Why?" I hoped that my voice was as commanding as Rachel's would have been. He faltered for a second, and then unsteadily, as if he didn't know how I'd react to what he was about to tell me, replied "I took her out to the wood over there. She needed a break, some time away from us, and all the reminders of what she's lost. You should know that, seeing as how you are supposed to be her best friend. But no, it fell to me to look out for her." His voice was becoming angry, although I detected something else behind it, something I couldn't place, I didn't dwell on it, his words had stung me far deeper than I had thought they would, he knew very well that I had been doing everything I could to try to make Rachel better, to help her through her pain, but what do you say to someone who just watched the love of their life explode into billions of pieces and spread over several hundred miles of atmosphere? I felt tears rise, and turned my head quickly, and started to run, toward my hut. I heard Marco call behind me, "Cassie, wait, I'm sorry! I didn't mean..." But what exactly he didn't mean was lost to me, as I rounded the corner and sprinted into my hut, tears staining the wooden frame that served as a doorway as I passed.

Much later, I don't know how long, I lay on my makeshift bed, when...

"Knock, knock"

Someone was at my door. Wanting to come in. I didn't want to see them; I had failed my best friend. At the time she needed me most, I had failed her. Marco was right.

I felt the bed sink slightly as someone sat on the edge. I knew who it was already, and they were the last person I wanted to see right at that moment, but also the one person I needed to see.

"Cassie, Marco told me what happened. What he said." Jake said softly, "I know why you're in here. Alone. When you should be out there, with the others. Where you want to be."

"I can't." I said, sounding pathetic, even to me, I dreaded to think what Rachel would have thought...the old Rachel that is. "I let her down Jake, she needed me, and I let her down, I can't help her. I can;t take the pain away, I want to, I tried to, but nothing works! I'm her best friend! I know her, but I can't help her! I've failed." I said, tears running freely down my face.

"Of course you can't." Jake answered, closer to me now, "None of us can. She has lost of the closest people in her life, after only just regaining him, the pain she feels will never leave her,she will just have to learn to cope with it, to deal with it. And she will, in time, she will learn to use it, to grow from it, it's what makes us human, and keeps us strong."

I looked at him, long, and hard. I didn't know what to make of what he had said, I didn't know if I liked it, but I knew it was the truth, and I know that if anyone but him had said it, then it wouldn't have made half as much sense, because he knew, he knew what it was like to learn to live with pain, pain and suffering that would never end, he knew, he had dealt with it all through the war, and afterwards. I also knew it had consumed him, he would never be happy again unless he was waging a war, or some battle against an enemy, that was why he had accepted this "game" of the Ellimist's and Crayak so easily, he needed it, just like he needed to ram the Blade Ship. Despite all of that, I knew I loved him, and always would.

His face was inches away from mine, I could feel his breath on my face and neck, he leaned in and our lips met, for the first time in way too long. As the kiss deepened, I knew that we would have a struggle ahead, we were very different people, but I was going to try, try to save the man I loved from himself.

**Drode**

It was there again. That feeling. The feeling that something had backfired, but I had no idea what, what could have happened? All we had done was shoot down the ship... and all our instruments told us the brats had escaped in a pod before impact anyway. So what could have occurred to backfire?

The native was still chained, the Visser wanted him alive. I knew why, the others may not, but I knew, the Visser was, despite himself, very smart, he was keeping the native alive not only to gain information, but also so that there was an escape route, he knew that there was going to be an end to this, he knew that our side was not a guaranteed win, and he also knew that the fools on the other side valued the lives of others above all else, so, now we had a nice little hostage with which to bargain. Very clever. But, at the same time, all it ever said was that we had made a mistake, and "sealed our own fate", I could not, for the life of me, work out why. We had made a pre-emptive strike, yes, but it had been of almost no consequence, it had been spectacular to be sure but...

My musings were interrupted, again, by The One. How in the name of Crayak, he had been given this name I did not know, but he certainly had the ego to match it.

"Drode, what is this?" He said, ever so innocently. Arrogant fly, I would enjoy ending him once all this was over and Crayak was in control. "It is a one of my meditation devices, I use it channel my energies to help me understand existence." I answered, in actual fact, it was a part of the waste disposal unit of the ship I had found, and placed in his room to enrage him, but he didn't need to hear that.

"I see," he answered, "so I am sure you would like it back?"

"Yes. But somehow I think my carelessness in leaving it around will cost me dearly." I answered with a defeated sigh.

"Yes, yes it will, I shall keep this. To remind you to keep your things where they belong!" He laughed, long and hard. I made a show of trying to take it back, but he put it inside his clothing, much to my amusement, and stalked off, I suppressed a grin, this would be amusing for several days...


End file.
